diff --git a/builtin/pack-objects.c b/builtin/pack-objects.c
index b83eb8ead1..0e4e9f8068 100644
--- a/builtin/pack-objects.c
+++ b/builtin/pack-objects.c
@@ -1748,11 +1748,11 @@ static int want_object_in_pack_mtime(const struct object_id *oid,
 		}
 	}
 
-	for (e = the_repository->objects->packfiles->mru.head; e; e = e->next) {
+	for (e = the_repository->objects->packfiles->packs.head; e; e = e->next) {
 		struct packed_git *p = e->pack;
 		want = want_object_in_pack_one(p, oid, exclude, found_pack, found_offset, found_mtime);
 		if (!exclude && want > 0)
-			packfile_list_prepend(&the_repository->objects->packfiles->mru, p);
+			packfile_list_prepend(&the_repository->objects->packfiles->packs, p);
 		if (want != -1)
 			return want;
 	}
diff --git a/packfile.c b/packfile.c
index 60f2e42876..378b0b1920 100644
--- a/packfile.c
+++ b/packfile.c
@@ -870,9 +870,7 @@ void packfile_store_add_pack(struct packfile_store *store,
 	if (pack->pack_fd != -1)
 		pack_open_fds++;
 
-	packfile_list_prepend(&store->packs, pack);
-	packfile_list_append(&store->mru, pack);
-
+	packfile_list_append(&store->packs, pack);
 	strmap_put(&store->packs_by_path, pack->pack_name, pack);
 }
 
@@ -1077,14 +1075,6 @@ static int sort_pack(const struct packfile_list_entry *a,
 	return -1;
 }
 
-static void packfile_store_prepare_mru(struct packfile_store *store)
-{
-	packfile_list_clear(&store->mru);
-
-	for (struct packfile_list_entry *e = store->packs.head; e; e = e->next)
-		packfile_list_append(&store->mru, e->pack);
-}
-
 void packfile_store_prepare(struct packfile_store *store)
 {
 	struct odb_source *source;
@@ -1103,7 +1093,6 @@ void packfile_store_prepare(struct packfile_store *store)
 		if (!e->next)
 			store->packs.tail = e;
 
-	packfile_store_prepare_mru(store);
 	store->initialized = true;
 }
 
@@ -1128,12 +1117,6 @@ struct packfile_list_entry *packfile_store_get_packs(struct packfile_store *stor
 	return store->packs.head;
 }
 
-struct packfile_list_entry *packfile_store_get_packs_mru(struct packfile_store *store)
-{
-	packfile_store_prepare(store);
-	return store->mru.head;
-}
-
 /*
  * Give a fast, rough count of the number of objects in the repository. This
  * ignores loose objects completely. If you have a lot of them, then either
@@ -2134,11 +2117,12 @@ int find_pack_entry(struct repository *r, const struct object_id *oid, struct pa
 	if (!r->objects->packfiles->packs.head)
 		return 0;
 
-	for (l = r->objects->packfiles->mru.head; l; l = l->next) {
+	for (l = r->objects->packfiles->packs.head; l; l = l->next) {
 		struct packed_git *p = l->pack;
 
 		if (!p->multi_pack_index && fill_pack_entry(oid, e, p)) {
-			packfile_list_prepend(&r->objects->packfiles->mru, p);
+			if (!r->objects->packfiles->skip_mru_updates)
+				packfile_list_prepend(&r->objects->packfiles->packs, p);
 			return 1;
 		}
 	}
@@ -2270,6 +2254,7 @@ int for_each_packed_object(struct repository *repo, each_packed_object_fn cb,
 	int r = 0;
 	int pack_errors = 0;
 
+	repo->objects->packfiles->skip_mru_updates = true;
 	repo_for_each_pack(repo, p) {
 		if ((flags & FOR_EACH_OBJECT_LOCAL_ONLY) && !p->pack_local)
 			continue;
@@ -2290,6 +2275,8 @@ int for_each_packed_object(struct repository *repo, each_packed_object_fn cb,
 		if (r)
 			break;
 	}
+	repo->objects->packfiles->skip_mru_updates = false;
+
 	return r ? r : pack_errors;
 }
 
diff --git a/packfile.h b/packfile.h
index d95275e666..27ba607e7c 100644
--- a/packfile.h
+++ b/packfile.h
@@ -79,8 +79,8 @@ struct packfile_store {
 	struct object_database *odb;
 
 	/*
-	 * The list of packfiles in the order in which they are being added to
-	 * the store.
+	 * The list of packfiles in the order in which they have been most
+	 * recently used.
 	 */
 	struct packfile_list packs;
 
@@ -98,9 +98,6 @@ struct packfile_store {
 		unsigned flags;
 	} kept_cache;
 
-	/* A most-recently-used ordered version of the packs list. */
-	struct packfile_list mru;
-
 	/*
 	 * A map of packfile names to packed_git structs for tracking which
 	 * packs have been loaded already.
@@ -112,6 +109,21 @@ struct packfile_store {
 	 * packs.
 	 */
 	bool initialized;
+
+	/*
+	 * Usually, packfiles will be reordered to the front of the `packs`
+	 * list whenever an object is looked up via them. This has the effect
+	 * that packs that contain a lot of accessed objects will be located
+	 * towards the front.
+	 *
+	 * This is usually desireable, but there are exceptions. One exception
+	 * is when the looking up multiple objects in a loop for each packfile.
+	 * In that case, we may easily end up with an infinite loop as the
+	 * packfiles get reordered to the front repeatedly.
+	 *
+	 * Setting this field to `true` thus disables these reorderings.
+	 */
+	bool skip_mru_updates;
 };
 
 /*
@@ -171,11 +183,6 @@ void packfile_store_add_pack(struct packfile_store *store,
  */
 struct packfile_list_entry *packfile_store_get_packs(struct packfile_store *store);
 
-/*
- * Get all packs in most-recently-used order.
- */
-struct packfile_list_entry *packfile_store_get_packs_mru(struct packfile_store *store);
-
 /*
  * Open the packfile and add it to the store if it isn't yet known. Returns
  * either the newly opened packfile or the preexisting packfile. Returns a